Susan B. Anthony Day, February 15th, is a commemorative day to
celebrate the accomplishments of a great leader in the movement for
women's right to vote. Susan Brownell Anthony was born February 15,
1820 to Daniel and Lucy Anthony in Adams, Massachusetts. Susan was
one of the seven children in her family, five girls and two boys. Her
father manufactured cotton. Susan was even able to work for a short
time in the cotton mill as a young girl. Susan had strong Quaker
background and therefore supported social reform. Her father believed
it was just as important for his daughters to receive a good
education as it was for his sons. At an early age Susan was sent away
to school to study. At that time one of the few jobs a woman could
hold was a teacher. She beganteaching school in New York, at the
early age of 14. As a teacher, she earned $2.50 a week compared to
the $10.00 a week her male colleagues earned. She felt equal pay
should be received for equal work.

Following the panic of 1837, in which Susan's family lost their
cotton mill, she moved home to help her family regain their financial
security. Her family later moved to Rochester, New York. While at
home she strongly supported and participated in the abolition and the
temperance movements. However, she often found it difficult for women
to do much with these social issues because they were unable to
vote.

In 1851, Susan was introduced to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a women's
right advocate. The two women became good friends and worked side by
side for many years in support of women's suffrage. Susan B. Anthony
felt very strongly about women's right to public speech and gave many
powerful speeches throughout the country. Often she would use the
Constitution as a resource in her persuasive speeches. She was known
for saying "the constitution says, We the people...', not We the male
citizens...'."

In 1869 the Fifteenth amendment was ratified. This stated that
black men were now allowed to vote. Women's suffrage advocates were
outraged that black men could now vote, yet women still could not.
Following the ratification of the fifteenth amendment, Susan B.
Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the National Woman
Suffrage Association (NWSA). The NWSA was open to all who wanted to
join, both men and women. The NWSA published a newspaper, The
Revolution, with its motto, "Men, their rights, and nothing more:
women their rights, and nothing less".

The fifteenth amendment stated that "all citizens" could vote.
Susan B. Anthony along with other women felt they too should be
classified as "citizens." In 1872 Susan B. Anthony and 15 other women
registered and voted in the 1872 presidential election in Rochester,
New York. was set for June. Susan felt her voting was justified since
she was a "citizen." During the time prior to the trial, Susan was
busy giving speeches and trying to persuade any potential juror. The
trial was held in a small town outside of Rochester. Susan was not
allowed to speak for herself and fined $100 which she vowed she would
never pay. She never went to jail. However, no appeal was ever made
to the Supreme Court. If an appeal had been made and had turned in
Susan's favor, women would have been given the right to vote
then.

Susan B. Anthony became the president of the National American
Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1892 and served until 1900.
Susan continued to keep the issue of women's right to vote alive by
touring nearly every state and giving public speeches wherever she
went. During her 60 years of service for women's suffrage, she gave
approximately 75-100 speeches a year.

Susan B. Anthony died March 13, 1906, at the age of 86, before the
amendment was passed giving women the right to vote. In 1920, the
Nineteenth amendment, often referred to as the Susan B. Anthony
Amendment was passed giving all women the legal right to vote. Susan
B. Anthony's birthday, February 15th is now a commemorative day to
remember the great leader and work she did for the women's right
movement.

A. Simulation Activity. Introduce students to unit
on Susan B. Anthony and women's suffrage through the following
simulation. (Simulation adapted from: Hauser, M., Hauser, J. (1994,
September/October). Women and Empowerment. Social Studies and the
Young Learner, 1-3).

Begin by telling the students that it is time to select a new book
for the class story time. Hold up two options that the students may
choose from and briefly describe each book. Explain to the class that
today you are going to use ballots to vote on which book to read.
Ballots are what we use to vote in elections. Show the ballots to the
students. The names of the books are printed on the ballots. When
students are ready to begin, pass out the ballots only to the boys.
Explain to the class that girls are not allowed to vote in this
"election." After the boys have voted, collect and tally the ballots.
Debrief students on simulation. Discuss as a class, how the girls
felt about not voting. Should the girls have to agree with the boys
vote? Is this discrimination? What if only the girls could vote?
Encourage students to share their thoughts and ideas. Make sure that
all students understand the importance of letting both girls and boys
vote. Introduce Susan B. Anthony and the concept of women's suffrage.
Mention that she also felt it was unfair that women were not able to
vote. She was a leader in the women's right to vote movement and gave
many speeches about her beliefs.

B. Slogans. Divide the class into small groups. Have
the students create a slogan for women's rights or the importance of
both girls and boys voting. Write the slogans up in a poster format
and hang them in the classroom.

C. Brainstorm. Draw the KWL diagram on the board.
Use the KWL diagram to brainstorm as a class. List what the students
"know", what they "want" to know, and what they want to "learn" about
Susan B. Anthony.

D. Mini-lecture. Talk to the students about Susan B.
Anthony and give them background information about her life. Use the
map of the United States and of New York, to point out important
places (where she grew up, where she went to school and where
significant events took place). Explain what women's suffrage is and
review comments from simulation activity about why it is important
for both girls and boys to vote. Discuss important historical events
that took place in Susan B. Anthony's life and during the women's
rights movement. Talk about the two amendments, the fifteenth and the
nineteenth amendment, that affected the women's rights movement. Look
up the two amendments in the Constitution. For clarification have the
students make a time line portraying significant events.
(Chronological list in Appendix.) They may choose to draw pictures
with the dates to help remind them what took place. Review with
verbal questioning as necessary.

E. Writing Activity. Pass out the "Tribute to Susan"
papers to the students. Explain to the class that we have discussed
some important things that Susan B. Anthony has done. Have each
student write a tribute or a letter to Susan B. Anthony. The students
can use their creativity in writing the tributes or letters. Allow
the students to do additional research if they wish to. When students
have completed the letters and/or tributes to Susan B. Anthony
compile them into a book entitled "Our Tribute to Susan."

F. Application Activity. As a class think of
something that the students as a whole want to change. Some examples
may include "more recycling" or "read for fun." Have the students
develop a slogan or motto to go along with the change they want to
make. As a class write a newspaper, similar to The Revolution that
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote.

Each student can write an article about why they think (there
should be more recycling) and why it is important. Include slogan or
motto in the newspaper. Share copies of the newspaper with other
classes in the school.

G. Closing Discussion. Review with the students by
asking them what they have learned about Susan B. Anthony and what
she did for women's suffrage. Students should also be able to
identify Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments and their importance.
Allow students to openly respond in discussion.